The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an editorial today calling on Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus to resign prior to the June 5 recall elections because of her late reporting of votes in the Prosser-Kloppenberg contest last year and in the recent Republican primary. In neither case was her count inaccurate, merely delayed.

The JS editors have no confidence that Nickolaus is up to the task of tabulating votes in what is expected to be the “razor thin” recall elections (emphasis mine):

Imagine this: It’s 9 p.m. on June 5, recall election day, and the polls have been closed for an hour. Wisconsin has come to the end of a bitter recall campaign that pitted Gov. Scott Walker against a Democratic contender, and county clerks across the state are counting votes. Both sides spent a ton of money and spewed vicious ads, and the election rests on a thin slice of undecided voters. It’s expected to be a razor-thin margin, and no one can guess who will win….

The elections at stake between now and when she leaves office – assuming she loses her own re-election campaign in the fall – are just too important to leave in Nickolaus’ hands. They include not only the gubernatorial recall but local and state elections as well as a presidential campaign in the fall. A presidential election, by the way, that also could be razor close in Wisconsin.

Yes, the recalls, presidential and other elections may be razor thin, and vote counting integrity, both in appearance and reality, is critical.

If the elections are so razor-thin, then even minor electoral fraud, which Wisconsin has experienced in the recent past, could be the difference.

Monday’s ruling by Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess spells out in compelling argument why Wisconsin’s voter ID law is unconstitutional. The law, he essentially says, creates a new class of citizen who is barred from voting, those without the right form of state-mandated photo ID. That the Wisconsin Constitution does not allow, he says. That’s not the final word – this one was always destined for the state Supreme Court – but Niess makes a good case….

It is curious that the JS editors worry more about delayed but accurate vote counts, and less about voter fraud.

Update 8 p.m. Eastern — Nickolaus has handed off her duties under threat from county officials (Republicans) that they would seek to remove her. The JS editorial was the tipping point, I have confirmed.

Comments

“The law, he essentially says, creates a new class of citizen who is barred from voting, those without the right form of state-mandated photo ID.”

Which is simply asinine.

First, ANYBODY can get the required ID who is PERMITTED BY LAW to vote now.

Second, the only bar to getting the ID is to get to one of several places where those are issued. Hence, your neighbor, family, or some interested community organizer is all that is required. If you manage to get groceries, you can get a voter ID. It MAY be nominally more difficult, but you only do it ONE TIME.

Third, LOTS of people are barred from voting when they lack the bona fides the law requires.

“The law…creates a new class of citizen who is barred from voting, those without the right form of state-mandated photo ID.”

How could that ever be a valid legal statement?

It’s not far afield from saying Obamacare creates and punishes a new class of citizen, those without health insurance. Or, that FAA regulations create a new class of citizen who is barred from flying, those without the right form of photo ID.”

Not abiding a legal requirement does not mean one belongs to a new class of citizen.

I’m a severely under-employed graduate of a 4th tier law school…and in reading the legal opinions of accomplished people, I wonder why.

I have no doubt that if the Waukesha clerk’s early vote announcements were not mistaken (and reported a Prosser lead), operatives all over the state could have round up the necessary sacks of ballots to overcome the deficit. And so this is her unforgiveable sin — she let them go home that night thinking that no more skullduggery was needed. Once they turned out the lights on election night, there was no graceful way to come back a day later and present thousands of anti-Prosser ballots sitting in the trunks of operatives’ cars.

Well, at least the Journal Sentinel is being consistent with regard to their criticism of Nickolaus. The Journal Sentinel is well known in these parts for putting speed ahead of accuracy in their reporting where Republicans are concerned… not just in their newspaper, but on their television and radio outlet as well. Were the same to occur in Milwaukee County the TMJ enterprises would deem the event not newsworthy or be quick to offer up excuses. A response somewhat similar to the near-whitewash of their news organization’s employees participating in the Recall Walker efforts. That’s just the way it is around here.

Merlin: The Journal Sentinel is well known in these parts for putting speed ahead of accuracy in their reporting where Republicans are concerned… not just in their newspaper, but on their television and radio outlet as well.

Way too generous in your assessment. The reason they are constantly “putting speed ahead of accuracy” is because they want to advance their narrative, and they don’t want facts to cloud the issue. If they can smear conservatives by putting out a false report in big print, and correcting it in small print, then the damage is done. A repeating pattern like this is deliberate, malicious and vile.

“If a white kills a black we revolt, if a black kills a white it’s jail time, we kill each other it’s Miller time. It’s as if somebody has the right to kill us.”

Jackson then added “This right wing, we got to win the election, so wear your hoodie, put a voter registration card under your hoodie if you have a hoodie without a voter card you’ve been Hoodiewinked.”